Dark ones
by Delsch89
Summary: The life of a Xenomorph inside a research lab. Will she survive long enough to free her Queen, or is she to become another twisted experiment? Changed rating due to violence/language. Finished!
1. Fresh start

_A story seen from the Xenomorph's side. Just for fun, not even sure I got an actual plot for it yet. o.o  
_

_I will probably not follow all rules perfectly, I enjoy the movies and games, but I am not a hardcore fan that knows everything about the genre. Fair warning._

_May or may not continue._

* * *

The vague sensation of movement. The faint instincts kicking to life as she grew, safely hidden behind bone and flesh. Someone shrieking in her head, loud yet voiceless orders that didn't concern her but the adults of her kind. She still heard the commands though, without understanding the meaning of them.

The size of a human's lower arm, the worm-like creature turned in her home, consisting of nothing more than a simple human ribcage. Her host was moving around fast, its heart pumping faster than normal. The lump of muscle shared the narrow space with the chestburster, leaving the host with a poor excuse for a condition. Even its breathing was pressured, as one of the lungs couldn't entirely fit with the creature's tail in the way.

It was the stress levels that increased within the host that made the small alien wary. The instincts that had been small and in the back of her head, had suddenly pushed forward, making her stressed and agitated.

She could easily have spent another few hours in the host, safe and secure in her little pocket but it wasn't going to be possible. The host was freaking out, and it made her own instincts jump in warning. They goaded her into moving herself so she faced the big, flat bone in the area.

She suddenly pushed forward, revealing razor-sharp small teeth as her jaws clutched at the sternum, crushing and bending it. A scream erupted from somewhere above her, sending vibrations through the whole ribcage. The heartbeats she had always heard as slow and steady, increased to beyond bearable for the human body.

Another push and she managed to split the sternum into small flakes before tearing through flesh and skin. The slight shock of feeling air for the first time, coupled with the real smell of blood and human, made her shriek, twisting her body to the side.

The slow movement she had grown used to had increased tenfold, as the human toppled over to the floor on its back, the impact causing her to slide back into the hole in its chest. Once the movement had ended she crawled back out, pausing on top of the human's stomach for now.

Despite being nothing but a newly hatched xenomorph, she still held basic knowledge implanted from the Queen since the egg. This human she had hatched in was nothing but a worthless piece of flesh, only fit for hosting more of her kind or to feed on.

Instinct kicked in, forcing her away from the corpse, slithering forward as fast as her worm body would allow her which was quite fast actually. Her senses picked up every scent in the room, taking up the work that the eyes her kind lacked would normally handle.

Unfortunately the image they gave her was far from good. Her instinct told her to seek a hiding place, far away from the body she had hatched from and then seek out food to grow and shed. But this area lacked anything resembling her concept of a hideout. It was just a small, square room with no exits, shelves, panels or vents to hide or escape through.

With no option of escaping, her life might be over before it had really began. However, her kind's instincts were strong and things like this didn't stop them. Nothing short of death did. She lifted her head and what could resemble the neck from the floor, '_looking_' around. Metal everywhere. The only thing that didn't consist of metal was the body she had grown in.

Normally, a hatchling wouldn't hide in the body they came from but it was the only choice that presented itself. The scent of the blood from the outside felt strange though and she could also feel the scent of herself. It was a bad sign, others could feel it too.

The youngling pulled away from the human's chest and the hole she had pondered crawling back into, scanning the rest of the human body. The lump of flesh was covered in something that wasn't filled with the scent of blood and trauma. She twisted down under the belt and crawled across the leg of the human, nestling between its skin and the fabric it was covered with.

Time passed, though she was unaware of exactly how much. The sudden vibration and sound of a door opening further off made her alert, her body tensing.

"So this is where he went," a voice filled the air, dark, meaning male. "Poor bastard thought he could run away. Shut the door after you, fast." The vibration briefly returned, followed by the sound of four feet heading towards her location.

"Hey, his chest… the xenomorph has already hatched," a second, also dark voice said. "Wait, there's no other ways out of here, it must be loose!"

"Don't panic, I've got this under control. Besides, it's just a chestburster. Not like it's an adult."

The xenomorph could pick up fear from one of them, while the other one was directly hostile. The hostile one seemed to be clad with heavier clothing, the vibrations he gave off when walking were certainly stronger. There was also the indirect scent of metal from the man. This was an armed human, her instincts told her that much. A soldier.

The other one however seemed to wear thinner clothes than the one she had hatched from and spoke in a stutter and his voice more frightened than the other. So he wasn't a threat to her existence at the moment.

"So where is it?" the worker squeezed out in concern, looking around nervously. He was clutching his white scientist robe, looking around with wide open eyes. The marine tapped his rifle, watching the motion detector with a careless eye.

"Must have returned into the corpse. Those buggers like shelter and there's none of that elsewhere in the room," he said, sticking the point of the rifle down at the hole in the man's chest.

When nothing happened he pulled it back with a frown, before shaking the mucus off the muzzle, his gesture saying he had been doing this for a long while.

"Ok, doc, use the device. I ain't got all day and this little bug has had its fun," he shrugged, as the scientist next to him swallowed once before pulling out a thick data pad from his chest pocket. He punched in a code before clicking the 'go' button.

The xenomorph's world turned upside down, pain blinding all its senses and its faint connection to the hive and Queen. She shrieked in agonizing pain, twisting and turning in its hideout.

"What the…" the marine muttered as both could easily hear where the chestburster was. He moved to the leg of the corpse before giving it a light kick, producing another shriek from the hatchling.

"Keep the device running, doc," he said as he bent down, putting his rifle to the side before pulling out a very thick glove from his belt. When put on his right hand, he stuck it inside the corpse's pants from its foot. He easily snatched the disorientated and screaming xenomorph, holding it in a steady grip where it couldn't whip its strong tail or bite at him.

The scientist waited for the marine's nod before turning the device off, causing the xenomorph to relax but only for awhile. Now when her senses worked again, she realized what situation she was in, causing her to hiss in rage. All instincts pointed at fighting and killing but when caught like this, it wasn't possible.

"Squeal all you want, bitch, ain't gonna help you," the marine grinned, amused at her fighting. He glanced over at the scientist before looking down at the corpse.

"Well, we should head to your playground, I believe. We got what we wanted and someone else can clean this mess up," he shrugged, before heading towards the door. The scientist followed quickly, fast with opening it.

* * *

_Thank you for reading._


	2. New home

_The xenomorph continued to twist and turn in the __human's grip, but with her tail caught between his chest and arm, it was all pointless energy spent._

_She stopped moving after awhile, hissing quietly__ instead, as she devoted her energy on sensing her surroundings instead. The terrified scientist was still near, even if the marine's scents were the ones she could feel the best. Aggressive. First to die had she only been older. But there was also the occasional changes in the air and scents that told her that other humans passed by now and then._

_Only cold metal walls everywhere, cramped into narrow areas. Nothing smelled right at all, it was just enemy territory. __The voices from her Queen had grown silent for now, as if suddenly subdued. _

_It didn't take long for the area to change, from a narrow corridor to a larger room. There were several humans in there; none of them carried the marine's aggressive scent though. But neither did they have the nervous stench around them._

_The grip around the xenomorph grew harder, causing her to shriek in dismay, returning to her trying to bite at the gloved hand holding her._

_A shadow landed over her, causing her to stop again, focusing on the vibrations and sounds in the air._

"_So you found it. I thought the subject managed to escape the pens," a new human said, as the hand holding her suddenly changed direction, before letting go of her. She fell a bit before landing inside some small box, shrieking and jumping upwards, her jaws opening and shutting again with a surprisingly loud sound for her size. But the enemy hand she had aimed for was quicker than her and she could feel something block her path above her. Trapped._

"_Your_ loose subject got himself trapped in an empty pen. Didn't get further before the bug decided to pop," the marine said, as he placed his hand on the small transparent box that the chestburster had landed in.

"Anyway, I should go make sure all the traces after the xenomorph is really taken care off. Don't let the bloody thing loose now…" With that the marine walked out of the room, grunting displeased as he did so.

The scientist that had accompanied him to this room remained, looking nervously at his older colleagues, before clearing his throat.

"Anyone have the files on the host?" he asked, regaining some of his cool, now that the alien was safely tucked away.

"Right here, Matt," one of them said, handing him a thin datapad. Matt took it, already reading it as he headed back to the box, scratching the brown stubble on his cheek. His features and movements were somewhat different from the other scientists. He wasn't very calm, almost always twitching in one way or another. Nor did he seem to take care of himself very well. There were shadows under his eyes and he was thin, seeming almost malnourished. And yet he remained one of the youngest and most brilliant scientists in the compound. Whether anyone else wondered about his mental state, it wasn't brought up where he could hear it.

"Intelligent one, eh? Hiding under the clothes of the very man you killed," he snorted to the box and the xenomorph lurking in it.

"We like early displays of such behaviors. It tells us in which security category to put you in."

He knelt down next to the box, tapping a finger to its transparent surface before focusing back to the datapad in his other hand.

"Hatched from Milton Davis… subject 16 so far," he read out aloud. "That makes you D16."

It was a crude joke in the compound. 'Honoring' the unwilling hosts by naming the Xenomorphs after them. Making their legacy in the creation of the perfect weapon.

"Matt, stop flirting with the specimen," one of the scientists called from the other end of the room. "It needs to be prepared for its growth cycle."

Matt stood up quickly enough, still clicking away on the datapad before pulling out a thin plate from it that said 'D16.' He attached it to the hatch, before lifting the whole box over to another table with wheels on it.

The scientist who had called out to him, nodded before heading over to the control panel by the door, punching in a few numbers. Very soon another marine and a man dressed in grey overalls entered, the latter taking the moveable table with him back out.

Matt watched them leave over the edge of the computer screen he now stood by, before turning his focus back to his work.

_The xenomorph hissed in displeasure at being trapped in this unfamiliar situation. __As much as the narrow space and soft vibrations of movement reminded her of her former home inside the living host, this container just smelled very off. It reeked of humans. _

_D16 bent her head to the side, as the vibrations stopped after an unknown amount of time. __Not until the container was abruptly lifted upwards, did she announce her annoyance with a loud hiss, trying to keep her balance during the now swinging movements of the box._

_One of the humans had picked it up, the heavily armored one with the aggressive stench. Shortly after the vibrations stopped, only to be replaced with the sudden simple sound of the hatch being opened._

_The chestburster literally pounced out from the box, not to tear at whatever had released her, but rather to escape from it. She landed further off, already shrieking and hissing towards the shadow and the source of vibrations._

_The marine walked out of the room, leaving her clearly alone in her new surroundings. After the typical vibration and sound of a door closing, she took in what was going on around her. This room was different. It smelled familiar in a way._

_Very soon could she pinpoint why. There was a black substance further off in the otherwise plain room; substance she knew had been created by her own kind._

_D16 headed over there quickly enough, slithering across the cold floor, before settling in the webbed mucus. It didn't occur to her why she had been released or why something like this suddenly existed in her presence. All she knew was that it meant safety. _

_There was even enough nutrients for her to feed on and grow. Grow into something way more powerful._


	3. Madness

The low whistling echoed through the grey corridors, as the young scientist walked along them, skimming through the datapad in his hands.

Eventually, he stopped whistling as he entered one of the many rooms in the corridor. The room was nearly empty, except for the few computer consoles that were under the large window. The scientist frowned, as he looked for something, before some faint movement beyond the window caught his interest.

He went to stand by it, turning his head to the side a bit as he tried to peer into the darkness beyond the window. The room on the other side barely had any light at all, except for a tiny blue lamp at the far end.

A sudden slam to the window made him tumble backwards with a surprised shout, clutching the datapad to his chest. A black figure stood on the other side of the window, and he quickly came to his senses as he realized why he had been spooked.

He stood up properly, letting out a sigh, as he watched the young adult xenomorph on the other side.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" a voice behind him said, causing him to jump again. Matt stepped forward to the startled scientist who looked at him before he looked back at the Xenomorph who still stood there, clearly watching them.

"If you say so, sir," the scientist said quietly, as he handed Matt the datapad. Even if he wasn't much younger than Matt, he still ranked lower and rarely worked directly with the specimens. Clearly they unnerved him, as he had trouble with letting the alien out of his sight.

"Ah, the reports," Matt said, as he glanced briefly at the datapad.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking… why do you keep the Xenomorph in darkness?" the scientist asked, pointing towards the window. "You can barely see it."

Matt looked up at him, before looking to the Xenomorph.

"D16 is a bit… special," he grinned afterwards. "She doesn't approve of light." As he spoke, he walked over to the consoles, punching a few buttons before two more lamps were lit in the other room. The scientist was visibly disturbed by seeing the Xenomorph bathed in light, its every terrifying feature revealed.

D16 didn't seem any less disturb by the sudden change, as she hissed loudly and jumped off to the side, landing on all four on the wall next to the window. Within a matter of seconds, she had dashed across the roof, using her tail to shatter the lamps on the way until the room was covered in darkness again. But she didn't return to the window this time.

"I've yet to find out if this behavior is a mutation making her more sensitive to light than others, or if she's just clever enough to know to avoid light. I'm guessing on the latter so far," Matt continued, still grinning in satisfaction.

The scientist arched an eyebrow, still looking unnerved by the whole thing.

"Ah, yes…" he said. "I was only here to deliver the reports so unless you need me…"

"I might actually," Matt said, as he put his hands on his back, the grin still plastered on his face. "What's your name?"

"Derek Brocks, sir," he replied, looking downright nervous now. Unlike Matt, he was well tended to with blonde, short hair. He also knew of Matt's… 'instability'.

"Right," Matt said, as he activated the communications panel on the console.

"I need someone to come and repair the lights in room 12B. D16 has been naughty again," he said into it before shutting it off again, turning back to Derek.

"I got some boring matters to attend to. I'd like you to stay here and make sure that no unpleasant accidents happen during the repair. You know how to contain Xenomorphs, don't you?"

"I do, sir but... I've never done it alone."

"Of course," Matt chuckled, barely looking as he pushed open the hatch to a larger button, before pressing it.

The screeching sound from the Xenomorph's room startled Derek as he put his full attention back to the window, noticing the faint green mist that had entered the room and the panicked moving around that the alien was doing inside there before he was fairly sure he saw it slump to the floor in the darkness.

"There, perfectly safe," Matt said. "Shall we?"

He didn't wait for an answer as he stepped past the window, over to a door that led into the Xenomorph's room, opening it, much to Derek's horror. He followed Matt as he stepped inside, but he never went further than that, staring at the older scientist.

"Sir, this is a breach of the protocol!" he frowned. "We're never allowed to approach the Xenomorphs without security."

"If I were to wait for security every time that D16 destroyed the lamps, I wouldn't get anything done," Matt shrugged, as he picked up a flashlight from a pocket in the coat, aiming it around before letting the light land on the unconscious alien.

"See, harmless as a newborn baby," he chuckled, as he knelt next to it, grabbing hold of its arm. "Now come and help me, this will certainly be done faster than normal with you here."

"But sir…!"

"Just get over here."

Derek didn't dare to protest further, as he entered the room, shaking as much as a leaf would. Matt waited patiently, keeping the flashlight in his mouth now to be able to grab the Xenomorph's arm, nodding for Derek to grab the other arm.

Every Xenomorph pen had an extra small room with a computer controlled hatch for when the aliens needed to be kept aside for whichever reasons. This certainly qualified as a reason and, once the two men had dragged the Xenomorph into the small room, Matt shut the door after them, clapping his hands together once.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," he said, as Derek merely nodded in a forced manner before hurrying back inside the control room, drying his hands on his coat. Matt followed, seemingly ignoring the sweat on the man's face and how generally disturbed he looked.

"Now, just make sure she's not let out until everything's safe," Matt smiled at him. Not a nice smile, not even friendly. As in fact, it only served to creep Derek out further. He nodded nevertheless, making sure that the button to the door wasn't in any way possible to be used right now, with the glass box shut around it. He also made sure that the gas button, locked in the same manner, was secure.

He watched as Matt left the room, with his hands behind his back, humming quietly.

The ten minutes that passed after that seemed like an eternity, until the door opened again, revealing an old man dressed on grey overalls. The overalls represented the 'common folk' in the compounds, the ones doing all the repairs, physical work as well transporting creatures and things around. Advanced janitors if you so wished.

"You're not Matt," the janitor stated before he even stepped inside, giving Derek a look as if wondering where the hell Matt was.

"No… he told me to control the xenomorph while you work. I don't know where he went," Derek said nervously. The janitor watched him, furrowing his brow, before he shrugged.

"Rather you than that crazed doctor," he said, as he went to stand by the window to inspect the damage.

"The critter wrecked the lamps again. I wish he'd stop usin' them already." He straightened the grip on the small toolbox he was carrying, before stepping inside the main room, already reaching up to replace the first lamp. With the roof being so low he didn't even need a ladder for it.

"You have been in here… many times before?" Derek asked carefully.

"I've lost count. And everytime that doc has been grinnin' at me as if he was toyin' with the idea of lettin' the alien out on me."

"He wouldn't do that… he'd be held accountable for murder."

"It wouldn't be the first regulation he's broken."

Derek fell into silence, along with the janitor who worked very fast with replacing the lamps.


	4. Freedom

Once the hatch slid open from her little prison, D16 merely peered towards the opening. The gas had some effects on her, making the images of her surroundings way foggier than they should be. Naturally this disturbed her greatly, so she resorted to crawling out from the small room slowly.

Once she realized she was still stuck in the larger room she had been in all of her adult age, she paused in the middle of the dark room, turning her head towards the window. Even with the window in the way, she could smell the humans on the other side just fine.

None of them seemed to be the human that normally was in there. It was unusual and unusual things usually weren't good. Once she realized this, she quickly went down on all four and backed away into one of the corners of the room, away from the window.

It wasn't the first time she entered a rest, where she'd end up sitting down with her arms wrapped around her legs along with her tail. There wasn't much else to do in this confined space. She had already tried to escape in all manners she could think of. But despite the faint calls from the Queen, it wasn't possible.

So waiting was her only option.

In this state, time wasn't really a problem or even something that really occurred to her. She just sat and waited, until something different happened in her surroundings.

The familiar scent returned, making her move ever so slightly, her tail lying across the floor around her instead now. With the scent nearby she wanted to be fully aware and prepared. Things always seemed to happen with that human nearby. Sharp lights or other things she didn't understand. She just knew this human was more dangerous than the rest.

However, the human had changed. There was little left of the nervous and scared scent she had sensed when newly hatched from the host. For a while, it had turned to a more normal state that she felt with all the other human 'workers'.

But now the human's scent was… strange. Unfamiliar, twisted and disturbed. It was new to her and she didn't like it at all. It was as if he was jumping from being nervous to aggressive. As in fact all the humans inside the small control room were jumping in scents and their emotions. Most of them seemed angry.

Slowly she moved away from her previous place, crawling up to the wall before pausing by the window there, keeping herself hidden in the shadows well enough.

The human she recognized seemed to be the one who was the most stressed and agitated of them. The other two were the aggressive ones. Whatever was going on, it was causing internal fighting in the group. Internal fighting she was well aware of, even if, when it did happen among her kind, it was usually controlled and for very good reasons.

She cared little for the reasons of this argument, but she did know one thing. Internal fighting could cause chaos and disorder if not properly controlled. It could be a possible way to escape this confined box.

Her captor must have panicked because out of nowhere he punched one of the more aggressive ones, acting on the sudden fear that was radiating off him like a beacon. The Xenomorph had issues to try and work out how the fighting was going; all she could really pick up through the window was that the three humans _were_ in fact fighting each other rather violently.

At some point her captor managed to struggle loose, as he nearly landed head first onto the control panel by the window. He reached out with his hand somewhere to the left, lifting one of the hatches that protected the most dangerous commands the control panel had.

D16 twitched at the sound of the pressure door opening with a loud hiss, her whole body tensing at this sudden revelation.

"Are you crazy, Matt!" one of the humans screamed, the fighting pausing as they had heard the door opening.

"You forced my hand!" Matt cried out, sounding as terrified as the other one. But he had the sense to move, as he kicked the second scientist in the head, before rushing towards the door that led out to the main corridors. As soon as he was outside, he shut the door again, punching in codes at the control panel.

Covered in sweat and with wide open eyes, he quickly locked the door under his own command, before he continued to run down the corridor like a madman.

One of the scientists had rushed after Matt, but hadn't been able to stop the door from closing, as he hammered helplessly on it by now. He looked towards the door into the Xenomorph's pen before turning to the other scientist.

"Shut the damn door!" he roared. He was late though, as the other young scientist had been punching the button a few times already now and the door was starting to slide close again.

D16 moved fast from her perch, as she landed in front of the door. Upon seeing it close, she quickly grabbed its edges with her hands, using her superior strength to stop the door from entirely closing, growling the whole time. Not until she had managed to fit half her head and shoulder into the opening did the nearest scientist react beyond staring in complete shock.

"Gas her!" he shouted to the one at the control panels, causing the later to try and check through every button in panic.

"I can't! The gas would reach us. It'd kill us!" he screamed back.

"Better that than it escaping!"

The younger one stared at him, clearly not agreeing to that noble self-sacrifice. Instead he punched in a few other codes, alerting the security. As if hoping they'd reach them in time.

D16 didn't really understand the conversation but the rising alarm that echoed through the corridor and room told her that she was in a hurry now. No doubt the actual soldiers would respond to the cry of alarm from the workers.

The nearest scientist had suddenly decided to try and do something about her escape, as he kicked her stomach area once. It surprised her, since she was struggling to keep the door opened, but it didn't mean she'd take on attacks from a weakling like himself.

Fear and desperation was oozing from him so when the second kick came she was prepared. Her free hand clutched around his shin, before she yanked him towards her, quickly placing him between the closing doors.

The sound of the man screaming in pain and his chest being crushed by the doors, didn't startle her one bit. As in fact his body worked as a perfect lever, stopping the doors from entirely shutting close. It gave her the chance to put her focus elsewhere, as she gripped one of the door panels with her hands, before pulling backwards, yanking the entire door off its grid.

With half the door gone, it didn't matter that the other closed itself. It was enough space for her to squeeze through, as soon as she pushed the dead scientist away from the door.

The young man by the controls stared in horror as the Xenomorph made its way through the broken door, coming to stand in front of him. The sound of someone suddenly banging at the door caused the alien to hiss loudly as she turned towards it briefly. There were angry voices outside; no doubt the soldiers had arrived.

By now the scientist collapsed either out of shock or outright fear as he landed flat across the floor. D16 looked around, unable to find any other ways to escape even in the control room. Not directly anyway.

A part of the wall at the side of the control panel had a weaker structure. Acting only on instinct, she slashed the meter wide panel open, revealing what had to be a part of the ventilation system only it was shut off so it didn't lead anywhere.

It was a temporary hiding place nevertheless, as she squeezed her body inside the dark hole, even if her hands had to be placed on the outside, along with a bit of her head.

The doors to the control room were suddenly opened, followed by a cascade of fire from the flamethrower wielding soldiers outside. They were only three, but with fire as their weapon they were extremely dangerous on their own. D16 even twitched at slightly increased temperature in the room, along with the indirect smell of fire.

Clearly there had been no concerns for saving the workers, in case any of them had been standing by the door. The man lying on the floor had barely avoided the fire, just because he had in fact been lying on the floor.

"Where is it?" one of the soldiers asked, as the leader of them stepped inside the control room. He shot the dead man by the door a quick glance before spraying fire through that door too just in case.

"It's somewhere…" he said darkly, as all three stepped into the control room. One of them looked through the window, before turning to the others.

"It must still be in the pen, sir," he said, as he looked around in the room. The tiny flame on the weapon, plus their previous use of the fire had revealed nothing weird in the control room.

"James, you're with me," the leader said, as he gestured for one of the others to follow him inside the pen. Both of them opened fire already by the door, aiming it to two different areas in the pen.

D16 had sensed them leaving the room and now she crawled out from her hiding place, seeing the soldier with his back to her. She stood up on full length, before she threw her hand across his face, stopping any screaming before using her second hand to tear at his throat, killing him fairly quickly.

As he was dropped to the floor, she turned towards the control panel. After having been gassed so many times by Matt, she had learned to recognize the button that caused the discomfort followed by utter blackness. She quickly opened her jaws, before striking through the weak hatch with her secondary jaws, hitting the button.

Despite being a room away, she could already sense the effects of the gas, beyond hearing the soldiers inside drop to the floor. So she moved quickly down to her four, before running out from the room.

The brightness outside temporarily blinded her senses as she hissed loudly. After a few second she managed to get her bearings again, as the vibrations and scents returned to normal. The alarm was still going strong, so she knew the importance of moving away from the room fast.

It was just a matter of minutes to locate the nearest vent and escape through it, even as more soldiers swarmed to her previous home.


	5. Kin

D16 let the vents take her away from the area and for a moment she had no idea where she was going as long as she got away from the immediate threat. Once she was satisfied that she had, she paused to take in her surroundings, letting her senses show her the rooms outside of the vents. They all seemed the same so far, with no humans or anything else in sight.

She tried to listen after her Queen, whom she hadn't heard since being a hatchling. But even as she tilted her head slightly upwards and stood perfectly still, she couldn't pick up anything from her leader. The Queen wasn't dead, she sensed as much. But she was silent, so she couldn't give out any orders.

D16 lowered her head again, before she continued to run forward, the faint clicking of claws against metal echoing through the vent. She didn't stop until she picked up something strange with her senses. Even though she had never seen it before, she recognized it as something of her own kind, as she paused in the vent and checked the room she had ended up in.

It was empty when it came to humans, so she walked forward a bit to find the weakest part of the ventilation before she sliced through with her claws and then tore it open entirely. She knew enough of the humans by now to know that they didn't necessarily need to be around to still cause harm, so she carefully crept out on the wall.

According to her senses, the room was pitch-black, except for the blue lights at the door in the other end of the heavily fortified cargo room. The cargo was the interesting part, as it seemed to contain the familiar scent she had picked up.

D16 dropped from the roof, landing on all four on one of the small containers, before she crept around it, finding no easy way inside it. There was a hatch with a number panel etched to it. She recognized this as a device that only the humans could use.

She hissed quietly in puzzlement, slashing against the cargo a few times with both claws and tail. The noise echoed across the room, throwing vibrations everywhere and she stopped quickly enough, her head aimed right at the cargo for several minutes, as her brain tried to process this delicate situation.

The cargo needed to be opened; it was a big part of any lone Xenomorph survival instinct to make sure as soon as possible that they didn't remain alone for long. With the Queen silenced, she would need to act on her own instincts.

Her memories quickly brought up one of the tests that the human Matt had thrown at her, where he had been testing the Xenomorphs acid blood. This container was composed of the very same material he had watched her blood sip through.

Injuring herself made no sense in her mind, beyond gaining a valuable ally. It was enough. Her tail moved forward before she sliced the upper part of her forearm, the yellow acid already dripping down from her black skin. Hissing, she dragged her arm across one of the edges on the container. The acid quickly dissolved the material, creating a deep enough hole for her to grab the edges with both hands and tear loose a large chunk of the container's side.

The smell from the box was familiar even though she had never sensed any of her own kind up close. The box contained one of the Queen's eggs, unhatched and unharmed.

D16 let out a long hiss, her tail moving behind her constantly, as she waited for the egg to hatch. As the Xenomorph inside sensed the vibrations as well as she did, plus her own scent, it took only a few minutes for its hatching instinct to be triggered. The slime around the egg dripped down along the container's side as it opened.

She looked around, her senses picking up humans nearby, in a small room next to this one. She couldn't see a possible way for them to get inside this room from where they were… but still something bad was spreading across the roof.

The Xenomorph looked up as the sound of something activating up in the corners of the roof was heard. Not staying to find out what it was, she reached into the egg and pulled out the slimy hatchling from it. The facehugger secured itself around her hand and arm with its tail well enough to remain steady, even as the adult alien moved.

D16 didn't wait, as she hurried to the same vent she had entered the room from before, already feeling a bit dizzy, so it was clearly gas they were pumping out into the room. She managed to get inside the ventilation system again though, carrying the facehugger in one hand. Due to this she moved a bit more slowly through the vents than normally, but still made it far away from the effects of the gas.

Her body did feel slower than normal, so she stayed for a while, dropping the facehugger to the floor of the ventilation shaft. It remained on the spot, until she hissed quietly. The hatchling moved up on her, holding on to her back right between the back spines there.

The humans were clearly after her still so her first priority was to get this facehugger to a victim, so she could be joined by more of her kin. Finding a solitary human was easy with her senses and access to the whole facility via the vents. At least for now.

It didn't take long for her to follow the various human scents that was giving her a perfect map of their locations and she paused by one of the rooms that seemed to serve as a sleeping quarter.

The targeted human was a woman sleeping in one of the many bunk beds and there didn't seem to be anyone else in the room for now. D16 merely entered the room from the roof, slowly crawling her way down to the floor and next to the human.

The facehugger on her back had sensed the human, wasting no time in getting of D16's back and plant itself right on the woman's face. By the time she could react, the tail was already tight around her throat and very soon she became limp as all hosts did when under the effects of a facehugger.

Once the process was complete, D16 grabbed the human to carry her into the vents as carefully as she could to avoid any damage to the human, beyond accidently dislodging one of the shoulders. The fact the vents were just large enough for a human was fortunate and provided less risk for the facehugger to fail its incubation.

After a while she stopped by a small, dark storage room, placing the body in it. At the floor another ventilation system was visible, which would give the chestburster a chance to escape once it had hatched

It wasn't the safest place, but D16's care for another of her kin only went this far. By now, it was more important to find the Queen than to babysit a newborn hatchling that could after all take care of itself if need be. If the hatchling was lucky, the host wouldn't wake up until it was too late and it couldn't move out of the room.

D16 returned quickly to the upper ventilation system, returning to her task of finding where the Queen had gone.


	6. Planning

Even though D16 knew that the death of the soldiers she had gassed would keep the whole compound on high alert for a long while, she could only compare the soldiers' next move with what her own kin would do. She didn't have any memories of how humans reacted to these kinds of intruders. She only knew what Matt had done to her.

The alarm lights, blinking red in every room and corridor served as a constant reminded of the ongoing Xenomorph threat, now that the sounding alarm had been turned off. The guards and soldiers were still on high alert, but since pretty much everyone knew of the escaped creature, there was no point in putting up with the noise.

The civilians and workers had been told to go to their rooms and lock themselves in, as well as cover up any ventilation hatches or holes. Not the best way to deal with the situation, but the compound had put all of their money into keeping the Xenomorphs pens secure… not in creating failsafe bunkers for people to hide in. The fact that any specimen would escape obviously had seemed too far-fetched for the businessmen. The corridors were patrolled by guards working in teams of two or three, all nervous about who'd be ripped apart first.

In the main security room, the remaining soldiers had gathered. Some of them were pointing at the compound maps on the screens below, some others were arguing loudly with each other.

"Let's go through it all again," the one who seemed to be the commanding officer said, raising his hands briefly; a sign of that the others had better shut up. Unlike most of the others, he had no helmet, revealing the white, short hair and beard.

"A few soldiers went to investigate a security alarm in one of the Xenomorph pens. Neither came back and to this point, one of the high ranked scientists is missing. Am I right in assuming that this scientist was the main caretaker of the specimen inside that pen?"

"Yes, sir. Camera footage shows there was an argument based on the fact that the specimen's caretaker was growing too unstable to keep up with his work. The argument ended with the caretaker opening the door to the pen," one of the soldiers replied, as he stood bent over one of the smaller computer screens, pointing at the screen as he read the report.

"And thus indirectly killing two scientists and the investigating patrol, as well as costing the company significant money because we had to terminate all the other Xenomorphs," the officer huffed, clearly in dismay over this fact.

"Preferably I'd want this bastard found and questioned as soon as possible, but we need to clean his mess up first. What do we know of this specimen?"

"It's identified as D16 and has been showing signs of remarkable intelligence for its kind and is therefore considered more dangerous than an average Xenomorph. There are some unfinished notes about how it might be sensitive to bright light, but it could also be that it is smart enough to remove any light sources. It's not clarified in the notes, sir."

"It managed to break into one of the cargo bays," the soldier continued. "It was clever enough to figure out how to open one of the egg containers. They were about to gas the room when it escaped. The bad news is that they can't find the facehugger from the egg anywhere."

"So we might have two Xenomorphs on the loose," the officer grunted. "I want these bugs dead before I lose any more men," he continued sharply. "Have there been any recent signs of them?"

"No, sir. We're unable to track the ventilation systems, unless someone's standing nearby with a motion tracker."

"So we need to figure out where it'd most likely go. What's the Queen's condition? Is there any possibility the adult Xenomorph would go towards her?"

"The Queen is still sedated and locked inside her chambers. Reasonably there should be no known way for the adult Xenomorph to find her, unless it stumbles across the area."

"Post a few patrols around her chambers. Sedated or not, I do not want that Xenomorph anywhere near the Queen. I also want everyone to stay in groups of at least two. If there's a facehugger loose, it's more inclined to go after single targets. This way there'll be at least one to kill the other before we have a whole damned swarm of these things. The rest of you… grab your motion trackers and a partner and start patrolling the area. Keep constant radio contact. _Find_ that bug! Also, for God's sake, keep the eggs in the cargo bay under tighter lock and key!"

Most of the soldiers moved about urgently, as they left the room to get the required gear and the higher ranking soldiers to sort out who did what. A few remained, those who actually had to sit and watch the security cameras and radio broadcasts.

"Sir," one of them hesitantly said. "Shouldn't we call for backup? Get some experienced marines here to deal with the creatures?"

"Not for as long as we have this under control. I am not about to call the big boys and cry to them because _one_ Xenomorph and its kid are out playing. It has no kin to call or a Queen to lead it. It's as good as dead," the officer frowned at the soldier who quickly nodded before going back to his business on the screen.

Far away from the security room, a lone scientist was skulking about in the morgue of all places. Hunched and his hands twitching in clear anxiety it left little doubt as to who it was. Matt was lucky none was around or paying attention to the cameras, because it was the last place someone would check right now with all the soldiers going about their business.

After the panic attack outside D16's pen, he had been walking around, avoiding everyone and everything. He was smart enough to know that people would most likely want his head for what he had done.

From his varied hiding places, he had managed to hear some bits of what was going on and he felt oddly proud over the fact that D16 was still eluding the clumsy, human warriors. He wanted to be a part of this, to see how far this magnificent specimen would go and where her actions would take her.

That was the reason he was hiding in the morgue right now. To find a way to blend in among the soldiers, without being caught. There was no way he'd sit this through in a prison cell.

The soldiers that D16 had managed to gas were lying on the benches, with white cloth over them for now. There hadn't even been time to undress them, only removing their weapons before the alarm had called the patrols elsewhere. It suited Matt just fine, as he quickly did the job for them and equipping the dead soldier's gear on himself. In case the clothing wasn't enough, he franticly went to shave his head in one of the bathrooms, to rid himself off his regular haircut into no hair at all.

When he was done, he could only hope that none would pay too much attention to him, else they'd probably be able to tell who he was. That is, if they had even checked his files or if the camera had caught his face. He didn't know any of this, so he couldn't risk getting up close to anyone.

He really needed to be there, when D16 completed her task. It was so important, no soldiers would understand it. With a near maniacal smile on his face, he left the room, dressed as a soldier and heading right towards the Queen's chambers. The heart of the compound. No doubt D16's target.


	7. Problems

_I now understand why the Alien campaigns in the games always are the shortest ones. Finding out decent things for a Xenomorph to be able to do is a bit of a challenge!_

* * *

The increased activity was definitely noticed by D16 who moved slowly through the ventilation systems and sometimes empty rooms. Due to her advanced senses and ability to sense humans even behind walls, she had managed a fine job of avoiding them so far. The question was how long it'd last.

She slowly crept through the current ventilation shaft she was hiding in, keeping an eye on the corridor below her. The scent of humans was fresh and strong, so no doubt they'd return soon again.

She had only one conclusion to make. Had it been a nest, the Queen would have settled in the deepest, safest part of the compound. But since she was currently captured by these humans, no doubt it would be one of the places where most of the warriors would gather.

The Xenomorph started moving faster through the vents now, taking turns to adjust her direction as soon as she noticed that she was closing in on the wrong area or found herself somewhere the vibrations and scents were less strong.

She stopped abruptly as one of the corridors held an unusual scent. There were no humans in it, so she could pause for a while, taking in the familiar scent. Eggs from the Queen had been delivered through here, that's why it came of as unusual for the Xenomorph. Although her primary instincts didn't involve carrying or caring for the eggs, she knew it was wrong that they were carried away from the Queen. Considering the scent of humans was mixed with it only made things worse.

Her instincts were to protect the Queen and the eggs, because she was a warrior, not a drone. These were signs of a bad job done and fueled the instinct to find the Queen and get rid of those humans before the Queen would be killed.

D16 continued through the vents; however she made sure that she followed the scent of the eggs now, as it'd naturally lead to where the Queen would be. She hadn't expected the blockage in the vents, forcing her to leave a transportation system that had so far been secure and hidden.

She slashed through the floor of the ventilation shaft, landing easily in the corridor below on all four. It was light here, as she cowered to the floor briefly, hissing. She ignored it for now, barely though, as it made her feel very insecure on the floor, before she continued along the corridor, her senses alert.

Long before the patrol could make itself even heard, she had spotted them via her other senses, smelling them easily even beyond the walls. There were too many warriors around now for her taste. It was time to make them fewer.

She backed a bit, before hurrying back into the ventilation system she had just gotten out from. The two humans headed right in that direction, setting up their own ambush without knowing it. As soon as the vibrations and their scents had moved past her, she slid back down on the floor, getting up on her hind legs easily.

Whether it was her shadow covering over them or just luck, both men froze as if feeling something was very wrong. One of them glanced over his shoulder, finding himself face to face with the Xenomorphs jaws, her hands raised and fingers flexing.

D16 literally felt the adrenaline pumping through their bodies within seconds, which caused her to lash out with her clawed hands. Before the man could pull up his rifle to shoot her, she had already clawed his face to pieces, as well as his chest with her other hand.

The other man was fumbling with his weapon even as his partner fell to the floor in a bloody heap. Before he could get a shot off, she moved forward, her tail striking right through his stomach, pinning him to the wall. He gasped and spat out blood, as he dropped his weapon to clutch the black tail with his hands in shock.

Unbeknownst to him, D16 was testing his reaction and resolve. Not out of curiosity, as it was beyond her, but rather to see just how big of a threat these warriors really were. These two, she had decided, were below her own 'rank'.

She opened her jaws, the secondary mouth appearing from within them and it lashed into the man's skull, killing him instantly. She then pulled her tail loose, before she stepped over the other dead man, remaining on her hind legs for now.

Sure, the dead warriors would leave a good hint to where they were but she cared little, as most of her instincts sought to liberate the Queen. The Queen was the answer to everything and the longer she was kept in captivity, the more desperate the situation could become.

The way ahead of her was a long corridor, so she got down on all fours to start running through it, mindful of her surroundings. Light after light passed above her as she ran, reminding her of the irritation and insecurity of staying out in the open like this.

D16 stopped abruptly, her hissing growing louder as she finally felt a scent that had to mean she was on the right track. A lot of humans had been in these corridors, and even the walls seemed to consist of a sturdier material somehow, as if to offer more protection to the area.

She moved down into the corridor these things came from, her claws clicking against the metal floor, before a whirring sound ahead alerted her. Something was moving down from the roof, a square box that quickly opened, revealing something that looked like the things all the warriors were carrying around.

D16 took a few steps backwards, as the whirring continued, with the 'stick' moving around towards her. Although she had yet to experience anything with a rifle, she remembered the fire weapons that had been similar.

Suddenly she darted backwards, jumping up on the roof, just as the thing rapidly started firing bullets towards her. She outran most of them, feeling the sharp vibrations in the roof as they hit it instead, unnerving her into growling loudly. A few hit the base of her tail just as she rounded the corner.

The acid blood had already been faintly sprayed across the floor during the impact, leaving small, smoking holes. The amount hadn't been nearly enough to cause any real holes, and her tail wasn't that damaged either.

She shrieked quietly, disturbed at this new enemy she couldn't at all understand. She could only work out that it was capable of inflicting fast pain on a long distance.

The problem was, the sensations were strongest from behind the thing, so she had to get through it somehow. Since she understood the concept of inflicting pain by activating something, via button for instance, it was the first thing she started to search for.

When she couldn't find it, she started pacing at the start of the corridor, hissing and growling loudly.

She turned to the walls, noticing something she hadn't paid attention to so far. There was a very faint humming or vibration coming through the wall's top. It seemed to start from the back of the corridor where the thing was and continued around the corner next to her. Some of it even seemed to move up to the blasted lights above her.

With nowhere else to go, she followed the wall which contained the consistent humming, until it abruptly stopped next to a door. She pushed on the door slightly with her head before standing up, digging her claws into the hatch in the middle.

With incredible strength, she started to tear the door open, trying to push the slide doors away from each other, enough until she could push her shoulder inside as well. That's when she noticed more pheromones, this time coming from fear somewhere inside the room.

She slipped inside quickly, letting the door shut itself close afterwards, as she noticed she wasn't alone in the room. Several white dressed humans were moving about, screaming something, smelling so much of fear that it was to the point of being disturbing.

One of them stood by a few controls, pushing at the buttons there like no tomorrow and D16 literally screamed as she charged forward, grabbing the man's head to slam it against the control panel, killing him by the mere force of the blow.

Humans leaning over and pushing things at something below them she knew all too well and she wouldn't have any gas on her, not now. Driven by a furious self-preservation instinct, due to her mission, she quickly moved on the other two.

One of them was running for the door, only to be tripped over by her tail, before she stabbed his thigh, ignoring his scream of pain. Out of nowhere shots were fired, and she tore her tail loose, hissing towards where they came from. Most of them missed, as they were fired by the other worker, who could hardly keep the gun in one place, let alone steady enough to aim.

D16 stood up, walking towards the human who frowned as the weapon started to click instead of actually shooting and he nearly flew over the table next to him which had an ammo box.

The Xenomorph grabbed his neck, yanking him back towards her before she ran her claws across his throat, dropped him and moved towards where the dead human was bend over the console, face planted onto the control panel.

The buttons and screens on the wall made no sense to her, naturally, so she looked around, trying to find the humming noise again. It still came from the wall but stopped at the console in front of her.

Hissing, she used her claws to tear up the whole panel, throwing it off somewhere behind her before looking down at the numerous cables and things lying under it, some of them creating sparks with the disconnected cables.

The buzzing hadn't stopped so she continued to rip it to shreds, clawing and striking down with her tail. A few lights in the room flickered, before the humming disappeared. The screens on the wall in front of her went out with a fizzle, rendering the room much darker than before.

Since the buzzing sound was gone from the walls as well, D16 turned around to move back out of the room. The man she had stabbed in the thigh was crawling by the door, a line of blood traced on the floor after him. He had managed to open it already, half way through it. The alien used her tail to quickly punch another hole in his chest, before she stepped through the now open door.

Not until she got back to the corridor with the turret did she pause, looking around briefly. The buzzing was gone and things were eerily quiet now, so she stepped into the corridor on all fours, moving forward. As nothing happened, she moved faster until she was sprinting.

She had successfully powered down the turret, giving her easy access into the heart of the bunker. The door was locked, sure, but there was a ventilation shaft just on the wall, so she crawled into it, before going through to the other side.


	8. The beginning of the end

As soon as D16 had crawled through the ventilation shaft, she realized at once that she was in a very large room, much larger than anything she had been in before. It was far from empty though. At least a dozen humans were inside of it, milling around and confusing her senses. She remained inside the shaft, standing still for now.

None of them were anywhere near her at the moment, so she didn't consider them a direct threat. Nor did anyone seem to have noticed her presence. Although most of these warriors were beyond her own 'rank' she couldn't take on this many without dying. Not now. Not until the Queen was safe.

The tension in the room suddenly exploded as a voice came from the speakers in it. Even D16 turned towards it, listening even though she wouldn't understand the precise words; only interpret any emotions behind them.

"We've found the Xenomorph. It's in the common levels of the compound. I want all of you there ASAP, except patrol 5 and 6. You stay here and make sure that the Queen remains in lockdown."

D16 hissed quietly, at the noise from all those feet moving at once, as well as the vibrations they sent through the floors and walls. The voice had sounded urgent, thus the warriors were moving fast to please it.

She remained quiet as the room became emptier, though none was moving towards her location. They had doors elsewhere and very soon there weren't even any humans near her.

Now she moved through the vents, until they took her down to the floor level, where she pushed a hatch open. The sound of it falling to the floor echoed through the room, forcing her to move quickly out of it, darting along the wall till the other end of the room. She was being quieter and faster now, realizing she was in the heart of the compound. Whatever warriors were positioned down there, they'd be alert. Possibly, different ranks from those she had encountered so far.

The room was built differently, as there were glass rooms on the side of its upper walls, as if looking down over the room. The room itself had nothing in it, just a flat surface. But beyond the walls opposite to where she had entered from…that was the interesting thing. The scent seeping through the tiniest cracks and metal was familiar and strong.

D16 paused by that wall, growing quiet as if listening. It wasn't until a small patrol consisting of three humans entered through a door under one of the glass chambers, that she turned her head towards them. These smelled different, they didn't seem particularly nervous or afraid. As in fact, they seemed calm. Definitely a reason for caution. Proper guards around the Queen just like the Xenomorph hive would have.

"I swear I saw movement on the monitor," one of them muttered, as he looked around under his helmet, aiming around with the rifle in his hands. The other two looked just as alert, for a while at least. Their search didn't move them anywhere closer to where D16 was standing still, almost blending into the surrounding metal and shadows.

Unaware of the fact that these warriors could actually track her movements though, she started to move slowly up the wall, using her natural stealth that in normal cases would help her.

"There!" one of the exclaimed suddenly, turning around to point in her direction. D16 froze at the sudden feeling of being watched, as well as the human's sudden alertness. She was still hidden in the shadows, but now they were actually approaching the corner, heading straight towards her.

That's when a fourth scent was revealed to her, from the other end of the room. A scent that had followed her since the very day she had erupted out of that human and caught.

Matt was moving between the doors in the room, moving as fast as the uncomfortable armor allowed him. This awkward behavior was enough to distract the three soldiers closing in on D16, not to say that their motion trackers had picked up on his moving about too. Even if his almost stumbling about hadn't attracted their attention, the fact he was a soldier without any weapons whatsoever would have.

"Hey you!" one of the soldiers called, the one next to him still gazing into the shadows of D16's corner.

Matt ignored the call, beyond looking over his shoulder to see what they were on about. Instead he let himself inside the door there, before appearing in the glass chamber above, moments later.

"Something's up," the soldier who had called told the other two, frowning dismally. He walked over to the door, glancing up to Matt who was already pushing the buttons on the control panels there. As the soldier pushed in the code to open the door, nothing happened. He tried again, before hitting the door with the side of his fist. He walked backwards again to get in view of the 'intruder'.

"Open the god damn door!" he shouted up to him, as Matt continued to use the buttons almost franticly.

"Sir, we have an unidentified soldier in the Queen's chamber, sir. Not responding to our calls. Have you sent someone here?" he continued into his radio instead now, glancing back at the other two briefly.

"What? No. There shouldn't be any soldiers beyond you two patrols in there now, certainly not anyone who's alone. Seize him, we can't afford any distractions now, especially around the Queen." the officer replied, his tone stressed and loud.

"Yeah, uh… he's locked himself into one of the control rooms, sir."

"What?"

Things went silent, leaving the three soldiers waiting. The other two had walked up to the first, having forgotten about the movement back in the corner. D16 still wasn't moving, wanting the human dispute over with before she did anything else. Furthermore, Matt's scent had unnerved her, making her cautious again.

Steam suddenly pushed out from the cracks in the wall next to D16, as the entire wall started to separate, as it revealed itself to be one giant door, opening. The soldiers all jumped and the sudden noise called the attention of the second patrol in the area, which entered the room as well.

"Sir, the doors to the Queen's main chamber are opening!" one of them called into the radio, which was followed by a loud stream of curses from the officer.

"The fucking fool!" the officer continued, enraged now. "Use override code B-5328, get in there and close the god damn doors!"

One of the soldiers moved forward to punch the new code into the control panel by the door and the door slid opened.

"What do we do with the trespasser, sir?"

"Seize him. I want to know what asshole it is."

Both patrols went up the stairs leading to the glass chamber and D16 could finally leave her hiding place, now that the room was empty. She could still see and hear them not far off though, arguing and getting violent. What interested her more was the fact that the doors into the familiar scent were opened. Like a shadow, she slipped inside, crawling along the door's side, before disappearing among the shadows in the next room. As the doors started to shut closed behind her again, she paid little attention to the soldiers left behind. This new room looked very different. It had only one glass chamber off to the side and the middle of the room had a large container that seemed to be lowered a good bit down into the floor. Scattered along the sides there were large boxes and several mounted smart guns, although none was standing behind them.

The other end of the room contained another gigantic door but the container on the floor…

D16 circled the object, shrieking a bit. The Queen was inside it somehow. She could sense her. She hit the metal with her claws and tail, growling as she nearly bounced back at the force of impact. It didn't leave a mark and the vibrations that followed after the hit told her that it was thick steel between her and the Queen.

Emboldened by the presence of the Queen, she looked around before making one giant leap up to the glass chamber above. She climbed across it, before pausing on the side there, watching the interior. It was empty and filled with buzzing machines, throwing vibrations through the glass.

Well, she had learned by now that stopping whatever that buzzing sound was usually led to something useful. She slammed her tail into the glass window, feeling it shatter all around her, as she grabbed hold of the window frame with her hands; the glass pieces falling to the floor below her.

Once inside the room, she spotted numerous buttons under glass hatches, like the one inside her pen. D16 crawled up on the control panel, turning her head to the side briefly as if deciding which option to go with. Pushing buttons had always led to pain, if not for her, then for the humans.

Destroying things had removed hinders.

The small explosion that had followed after D16 tearing her hands into the delicate control panel, nearly threw her off her balance, several pieces of the metal grazing her head by the mere force of which they had been torn off by the explosion.

The room became pitch black for a few seconds, before some red lights flickered to life outside in the main chamber. More steam and an unnerving grinding sound reached her senses, as the object in the middle of the room suddenly started to even up with the floor.

D16 moved down from the glass chamber and walked up to the object as it opened in the middle, pushing its wall to the floor. Inside a black, clearly alive figure was lying, although there was no visible head or arms really. That only lasted for a few moments though, as the noises and movements ebbed away from the room, leaving everything almost eerily quiet.

The crown on the creature moved, before a Xenomorphs head pulled out from the outer shell of it, hissing slowly, confused by the sudden ability to move and feel again. The Queen continued to rise from the floor, standing up to an impressive height, and her tail swaying behind her.

Her low hiss became louder, until it reached the levels of an outright roar. The Queen, more capable of understanding than D16 was, felt that the current situation, trapped by humans and imprisoned, was… beyond intolerable.

As it was D16's job to protect the Queen and the Hive, it was the Queen's job to get the Hive up and running again.

What better place to start than here, where the food was.


	9. A new Ruler

**Just one chapter to go, I believe! Thanks to anyone who's been sticking with the story for this long!**

* * *

The Queen moved forward a few steps, before shaking her body and head while letting out a loud hiss. D16 remained on the ground, next to her, her tail swaying as she awaited instructions. Although much of her mind was still set on protecting the Queen, there were the orders too.

D16 lifted her head though as her senses picked up the humans beyond the doors. Whatever had happened with the power in this room, it had to have been noticed by the human warriors. They had to have some senses themselves after all. A high pitched noise came from her, as she moved closer to the door, trying to determine the number of humans out there.

The noise from her quickly changed into a more submissive one, filled with confusion as the Queen roared at her. The Queen had moved forward herself, the floor shaking under her as she walked. No doubt she could sense the amount of humans too and unlike D16, she knew of the dangers they could pose.

She turned her head around before shrieking something to D16, who moved quickly. She jumped up on the door in front of them, before crawling alongside it, until she hit another ventilation shaft from inside the control room she had just destroyed the control panel in. Maybe the Queen had simply been aware of the surroundings or her senses might just be better than the average's warrior.

Either way, the ventilation led right over to the control room in the other room that Matt had escaped to earlier. The room was empty, although fresh on the scent of humans. They had all gathered down on the floor below the room, most of them turned against the gigantic door. One of them was talking to someone, rather loudly and angrily.

Panic and anger, those two smells were all over the place. There was an odd sense of calamity coming from one of them too; Matt, judging by his scent.

Precious minutes floated by, as D16 simply watched behind the glass, without even being discovered. The Queen wasn't ordering any further but she was focusing elsewhere.

D16 put her attention to the side suddenly, feeling something moving towards them. It took her only a more seconds to realize it was another of her kin. Namely the lone facehugger she had protected earlier. The other Xenomorph had stopped in the same vent that she had used earlier to enter the heart of the compound.

Despite the obvious scent of another of her kin, there was also the scent of acid. The Xenomorph had survived its obvious encounters with the guards but it hadn't been without earning injuries. Not enough to make it permanently disabled and if it'd even live, it wouldn't be without scars.

The Queen's presence made itself clear to D16 suddenly, and the alien warrior slashed down on the control panel in front of her, stabbing both claws and tail into it, seeking to rip it to pieces.

She had learned this time however, moving away quickly as the whole thing exploded from the pressure. The glass shattered, as the room was dropped into full darkness before some red lamps started flickering, just like it had in the other room. The alertness from the humans below was almost deafening to D16's senses, but the Queen's order afterwards was clear.

The humans were almost blind in the current darkness and with the huge cargo door opening in front of them, the confusion and fear were at high levels. D16 jumped up on the window frame left by the shattered glass, before peering down at the guards who were fumbling with their gear or weapons. Her fingers and toes clenched around the steel, poised for attack as she waited for the right moment.

The other Xenomorph charged in suddenly, attacking one of the guard's backs, literally stabbing its claws between the ribs. Some of them were even ripped out by the retreat of its claws before it moved up to his neck, pulling his head backwards in an awkward position and with a loud crack. D16 pounced off the window in return, landing straight on another guard and biting down on his chest numerous times, ignoring his screaming and flailing. The end of his rifle even hit her across her head, with little to no pause in her attack.

She barely had the time to arrange for his immediate death before the air suddenly vibrated, along with the noise of bullets being sprayed in her direction. It reminded her all too much about the turret so she moved away quickly, escaping into the darkness again, at the same time as her kin.

"Fuck! I can't see for shit in here! How many are they!" one of the men screamed, flailing around with his rifle, aiming the flashlight everywhere he could.

"They got Cory and Derek," another muttered, having aimed his flashlight at the bodies next to them, the warm blood already forming pools on the metal floor under the bodies.

The loud, dull shriek from beyond the now opened cargo doors made them all look up, as the Queen charged out. The huge creature shook the floor so much that it was difficult to even keep one's balance under her charge. Even less so aim any of the weapons towards her. Shots were fired somewhere in the chaos that consisted entirely of darkness, red lights and a massive, angry alien who barely had to make one sweep with her hand to knock most of them over. Her tail flung after one of them, quickly penetrating his chest before she threw him away onto a nearby wall, leaving a splatter of blood on the metal.

They were only five left, one of them seemingly incapable of fighting back. As in fact this weak link of theirs had separated from the group, crawling away to one of the walls on all four.

While the Queen moved about, D16 traced the escapee. The scent was familiar, too familiar, as she circled around a few metal cargo boxes. Right there, in the corner and under the blinking red lights, Matt was sitting, trembling, clutching his right arm and muttering under his breath.

D16 walked closer on all four, slowly, to see just how dangerous he was now. The scent that had followed her ever since she could remember. She had no desire for revenge, not even delight at his injured arm. Only faint, casual knowledge of him.

She knew he was a dangerous human who possessed many painful ways of posing a threat to the Queen and the hive. She darted forward suddenly, stopping just inches from his face when the soft call from the Queen stopped her from spraying the contents of his head on the wall behind him.

No more death.

The Queen desired hosts for her future spawn and the more of them that could be kept alive, the better for the Hive. The brighter future it'd have. The more soldiers it'd have.

Matt had flinched at D16's sudden approach, since he hadn't seen her until now. But once he realized who it was, which he could only assume since he only knew of two wild Xenomorphs at the moment.

"What a big girl you've become," he said suddenly, the pride in his voice nearly thick enough to being translated into pheromones. "But you're injured," he continued in a sweet voice now, narrowing his eyes briefly at the yellow markings on D16's head, from the exploding shrapnel before.

D16 merely planted her palm over his head, her claws clutching around his skin, as she dragged him out of the corner, back out to where the Queen and the other alien had subdued the two of the remaining guards. The other two had been killed during the Queen's assault. Matt was laughing somewhat hysterically, as D16 dropped him off with the others.

"Yes, it's your mother!" he called out, once he spotted the Queen who merely tilted her head to the side at the sudden noise from him. "Such a beauty and such a strong will! Such a perfect daughter she gave to us." He was shaking by now, caught in his own mad rants and the subconscious understanding of what would happen to him and the others.

The Queen retreated back to the inner cargo door, which had two exits by now. The one she had just used, that lead into the second cargo room. But the inner room… it had a second door that had been forced half open by the constant power outtakes. It was no problem for the Queen to force it open the rest of the way, by pushing her large crown and shoulder to its side.

There was no metal in there. Just a long tunnel made of earth and rock, with a few scattered remains of lamps along the walls. Wires and cables covered the floor and the air… the air was different and fresher somehow.

The Queen returned to the inner cargo room, preparing it and herself for the next stage. She called out gently to her two daughters, who quickly obeyed with dragging the humans into the main room.

"Why no gas…" Matt continued his near delirious rants and still clutching his bloodied arm. "Can't gas the Queen. Too important. Maybe rescue… with what. Mother's going to take over, her daughters will rule. Kill everything."

"Should run. No point. Maybe she'll understand. Smart girl. Will recognize. No. No harboring such thoughts. Will die. At least I saw it! Haha, I saw the beauty of it! Now I will play their act!"

He cackled, kicking the floor and rolling around in fits of maniacal laughter now. However that action quickly made the aliens alert, as it could very well lead to a possible escape. D16 quickly reacted, by slamming her tail across the back of his head, knocking him out and ending his ravings. Probably for good.


	10. Final confrontation

"Guys...? Anyone...? I'm stuck," one of the guards' voices was heard through the semi-dark room. His voice was husky, as if he had just woken up from a long night's sleep. He struggled against whatever was holding him, until he managed to get his hand loose. His neck and head was stuck to something sticky behind him, so he couldn't really look around even. Getting a view over what was holding him was impossible as well.

So he looked ahead instead, coughing faintly. The room was dark but it was easy to see the large creature in the middle of the room. The Queen's head moved a bit at the sound of the human, a hiss erupting from her.

She had been busy along with her two daughters to cover most of the two rooms into the typical substance that their kind kept in their nests. It was easier that way to imprison the future hosts, as well as much better for their injuries. The injured Xenomorph had already healed to become a bit more useful.

A lot of the substance had been to cover the human entrance to the room, rendering it impossible to open unless the humans had some kind of secret regarding opening it. Normally, blocking their only way of gaining hosts was a bad idea, but the Queen's chambers had to be secure.

Especially now that she had just finished her own transformation in order to be able to lay any eggs, so that the captured humans could become useful.

D16 had been resting in a narrow hole in one of the walls, but she rolled out of it now, landing on the floor elegantly. Her Queen was restless and rushed, which influenced her daughters' minds more than she may have wanted to.

D16 watched the humans, before she moved away from the Queen, going to stand on one of the hills in the room, formerly a bunch of cargo boxes that had been covered in the mucus the Xenomorphs preferred. Her sister quickly went to replace the watch; after all, being the drone that was her focus, to care for the Queen and the younglings.

The warrior quickly moved through the room, leaping right into one of the more exposed vents now, crawling through it to the other side. The substance was already slowly spreading through the vents and the door to the more human area, which was good. The more of it covered the area the better for them.

But the silence from the humans disturbed the Queen. Her memory had learned them as aggressive, dangerous foes, not the silent, waiting kind. The wait was good for the aliens but it was strange too.

So D16 was sent out to see what was truly going on. Finally the alien could act as she was supposed to, as a scout to the Queen and not having to go in by her own whims. But her greater intelligence still served a purpose. Even though the Queen had been found, her survival instinct was still strong, not stronger than that she'd die for the Queen but enough to remain cautious.

D16 moved fast through the ventilation systems, keeping her senses alert. The corridors outside the nest smelled of humans, so they had certainly been there a lot and recently. But they had left something on the floors, standing devices that whirred and clicked in a familiar way.

The alien watched the thing move back and forth; before she ripped open the floor in the vent. She had barely placed her hands on the outside before the whirring stopped, resulting in a louder noise she couldn't entirely place.

The next second the whole vent was invaded with bullets, several of them grazing her skin. Shrieking, D16 moved forward, past the turret, but the acid from her wounds was quickly creating small holes in the vent floor below her.

She didn't stop until she saw that she had gotten past the turret. That's when she literally tore through the metal separating the vent from the corridor and landed right on the painful device. Her claws made short work of it, leaving it fizzling in its remains, the alien standing over it still.

D16 stroked her claws along the grazes on her upper body, determining whether she needed to seek shelter or not. But they were only that, grazes, so she didn't really need to. But these new devices… they were more worrisome news. And they certainly hadn't been there before.

The alien jumped over the broken turret, running down the corridor. No traces of humans so far, only the devices they left after themselves. As she came to a crossroads in the corridor, she looked around the corner casually. There was another turret, but just a few meters off. D16 didn't wait, as she dashed around the corner, leaping right at the turret, toppling it over while she stabbed her tail through it.

They were all traps; at least that's what the Queen gathered from D16. That's why the humans hadn't attacked them, they were waiting for them to willingly walk into these death machines. The Queen roared in rage in her chambers, the cry mentally echoing through her children.

D16 stood up over the turret, just as the Queen told her to come back to the nest and the child obeyed quickly, sprinting through the area until she could rest her feet on the Hive ground, already feeling better in her body.

A few eggs had already been laid, and her sister was busy with placing them out, near the humans stuck on the walls. The one that had been awake earlier, still remained alone in being in that state but he could do precious little as one of the facehuggers that hatched from one of the eggs crawled up all the way to his face, pushing him into the brief near coma like trance.

If he was lucky, he wouldn't wake up again.

D16 kept watch during the process, ready to step in, in case any of the hosts would struggle free and attack something. These eggs were crucial and as soon as all the humans were implanted with more Xenomorphs, the Queen seemed to relax.

With the nest secured for now, and more warriors on the way, she hid her vulnerable head under the neck shield, returning to her natural state. Sheltered, yet in control of the Hive's ongoings and decisions as well as its future children.

Once the hosts were once again subdued, D16 returned to keeping watch as the Queen instructed. Normally they'd just rest and wait for the humans to act, but the Queen was suspicious towards them now.

* * *

It wasn't until the day after that D16 was woken up from her resting state, by the Queen. As the alien moved through the two large rooms, the traces of hatchlings were all over the place. Old shedded skins and a few humans corpses that had yet to be disposed of.

The one lone drone in the nest didn't prioritize those duties just yet, but now… now was a different matter.

Five new Xenomorphs were spread out in the area, most of them near the Queen, as they were recently molded and still adapting to everything. But like with everything their kin did, they did that fast.

Now that they actually had a force to be reckoned with, it was time to do things a bit differently around here. Most of them were warriors, like D16, but even the drones would be used for this.

The Queen's shrill shriek made all the sisters attentive, as their order was quite simple. Eradicate any threats and find hosts.

The strict basics their kind always had. But at least this time they had the actual manpower to retort to those basics.

"Sir?" Two of the turrets have been destroyed," a guard sitting in front of one of the screens announced, pointing at the screen as he did so. Their commander stepped forward, to watch the screen and the cameras that were placed out in the corridors.

"Damnit," he muttered.

A scientist who was standing in the room, having been called there for his 'expertise' managed to take a quick look at the screen as well.

"Sir, now that the Queen is free, those… traps won't work very well," he said calmly.

"Won't work? It is damned aliens, they're animals. They shouldn't be able to figure out what a trap is."

"Sir, you're forgetting that the Queen's intelligent. We don't know much about her connection with the rest of the Xenomorphs but it's possible she's directly influencing them. How else could two Xenomorphs overpower two patrols at once?"

"Then what's your damn suggestion, egghead?"

"Evacuate, sir? Save as many as you can before it's too late?"

"Hmph. I have at least twenty guards left; I'm not abandoning my post!"

The other guards looked at each other, clearly worried by now.

"Sir…" the scientist frowned. "There's possibly another five more aliens out there. Evacuation is much recommended."

"I said no. I'm not losing my job because I couldn't hold a facility like this secure. It was perfectly safe here, if it wasn't for that one blasted bastard! I really hope the aliens have killed him already. You can leave, your advice is not helping me at all," the officer waved the scientist off. The scientist sighed, walking off in a hurry.

There were some screeching noises from one of the screens, most of the guards as well as the officer gathering there to see what was going on. A few bullets from a remaining turret had been all that had been fired before it had been savagely destroyed. The corridors were dark, but it was possible to see the fast, flickering movements of tails and legs, before each camera got destroyed with loud shrieks from the aliens.

Most of the guards had paled, looking at the officer now.

"Fuck this," one of them suddenly exclaimed as he dashed out of the room, followed by another two, leaving the officer roaring at them to come back.

"Warn and gather the patrols, quickly," the officer ordered the few that had remained, before he went to pick up a rifle from the table in the room. "If we're lucky we can just shoot them all down as they come for us."

"And if we can't?" the guards asked.

"Then we'll kill as many of the sons of bitches as we can. You stay here and keep an eye on the cameras, report everything on the radio."

The guard sitting in front of the screen nodded nervously, before eyeing the roof casually as the other guards left the room, shutting the door after them.

* * *

On behalf of the Queen, the Xenomorph force had split up and those following D16 were all the warriors, strong and fast, a moving killing machine. The drones had been sent elsewhere, in search of easy hosts, still gathering in a room of their own somewhere else in the compound.

D16's senses all picked up the increased mass of human activity from everywhere in the compound. An unfortunate patrol of four guards had managed to stumble right into the pack of aliens, which had resulted in a very fast extermination of the guards, with limbs flying onto the walls and blood gushing out over the floor.

So far though she refused to enter any large rooms, which was pretty much the only thing that blocked their movement. Large rooms could still mean gas, not to say an easy place to get trapped in. It was better to pick the lone humans off first and focus on the gathering crowd of soldiers later.

There was one thing that appeared in the Queen's mind, an idea of some sorts. D16 would have known it herself, had her memory and intelligence been a bit more advanced so the Queen would have to work as a relay. D16 quickly split off from the main force, running into another corridor on her hind legs in short strides; until she noticed the same humming in the walls that there had been before, when there was a power source nearby.

For some reason this place was unguarded, consisting of nothing more than a large room with beeping monitors and humming computers. D16 didn't pause, rushing to destroy every device she could in there. The power flickered off for a moment, rendering the whole place into pitch darkness. Nothing she had a problem with but the Queen knew that the humans… they'd have a problem with losing all their power.

D16 continued her own wave of terror, pausing to listen as she heard a lone human talk somewhere. The words were alien to her, naturally, but at the moment, any lone human was bound to be easy prey and one less problem. She pushed her claws into the cracks of the door that lead to the human, but she had barely pushed the door halfway open when bullets hit it and almost her as well as a very annoying flashlight, followed by the human screaming in panicked rage.

She hissed as the bullets continued even though she wasn't even standing at the door now, so her senses picked up an alternative way inside, crawling into the nearest vent. It led her to one of the corners in the room and in the protection of the darkness; it was really no problem at all to sneak to the floor of the room. The guard's source of light from his weapon didn't aid him much since he kept it aimed at the door, his hoarse breathing a sure sign of mental instability.

D16 charged forward without much bravado, using one simple slash with her claws in his neck to take him out. Once he was dead, she moved out through the vent again, going to gather where her fellow warriors were.

* * *

The officer had his own problems now, with the radio guard having died out… perhaps literally. Perhaps he had given those aliens too little credit, considering they had already taken out the compound's power. Not a difficult task to be honest, since they had few backup systems and hadn't secured the power room. So much for working for cheap companies.

"Sir, there's a few rumors that most scientists have ignored your orders and arranged for an evacuation themselves. Or rather… those that didn't run into a small pack of Xenomorphs did," a guard said, as he approached the officer who scoffed.

"Great, let's just feed the aliens more hosts, shall we?" he said annoyed. "Looks like it's up to us, boys," he announced in the room his crew had gathered in. They could hold up here for days, but there were still some preparations to do with setting up turrets and the like. Maybe a bit too late, considering how fast the aliens were moving. And he had a bad feeling the aliens wouldn't be reckless, with their numbers so strained for being an actual Hive. So them running head first into a pair of turrets didn't seem likely.

Most of the guards were wary and rightly so. They weren't marines nor did they have the right weapons to really fight an alien invasion. The plan had been to call for backup if something went wrong but that had been before their current officer had been assigned. Now things had just gone to hell and no one was really expecting to stay alive for much longer. People were already making deals with each other to be shot before an alien could drag them off.

The chaos started all too soon though.

The two men standing by one of the doorways to set up two turrets screamed suddenly, some shots were fired but certainly not enough. By the time another guard came to the spot, there was only rifles left, and traces of blood leading further into the corridor. More guards were closing up behind him to inspect the situation. With most of the soldiers moving across the room, the other two men at the other doorway were quickly dealt with in the same manner.

"Oh, god, they're planning! They're tricking us!" someone screamed. Rifles and flashlights were lifted upwards towards the roof and then towards the doorways that were now fully unguarded. There couldn't be more than ten of them left which meant that they soon didn't have their upper hand anymore, which was strength in numbers.

"Stop flailing about!" the officer shouted, or rather demanded, but his guards weren't paying that much attention anymore, too riled up to really focus on someone who they should rightly blame for being in this situation. Certainly, they lacked the discipline marines had…

The officer luckily didn't get much more to say, as a sharp tail ran through his chest, lifting him up from the floor briefly. The older, scarred head of a Xenomorph came within view of the startled flashlights, as she ripped up a larger hole in his chest when she pulled her tail loose, dropping him off on the floor among his guards, dead as a doornail.

By the time the guards thought of shooting, she was only retreating, her tail the only thing visible in the flashlights for a few moments before it too disappeared.

All at once the sound of hissing and shrieking Xenomorphs erupted, the flashlights showing that they were already surrounded by the creatures. Sure, shooting did happen, but way too little before the alien pack quickly descended on the humans. Several shots came off lucky, killing a few of the aliens, but not enough to save anyone. Some guards did keep their word, shooting someone in the head before a Xenomorph got their hands on them. A fast, preferred death compared to what would happen to those that stayed alive.

D16 sat on a few containers further away, the blood still trickling to the floor from her tail, as she listened to the massacre her sisters were doing. The Queen was pleased, at the last threat having been eradicated and with the drones having captured a lot of human workers. Those that hadn't fled in the flying machines.

But for now, they had a strong, safe Hive, that'd become even stronger with these new batches of hosts.

* * *

_It was almost a week afterwards, that D16 had to move again, forced out of her needed resting state. The Hive had spread basically through the whole compound now, with very few remaining traces of there ever having been a human settlement under the mucus the aliens preferred. There were no humans left alive anywhere and the only sign of them ever having been there at all was their remains in the form of the many Xenomorphs._

_Still, the Hive always needed more hosts, and it was time to find them. Many of the warriors, including D16 were sent off through the tunnel behind the Queen's chambers. They had yet to explore it, but the air in it sent off vibes to the Queen that it could very well lead to somewhere else than the compound._

_The tunnel literally crawled with a pack of aliens for several hundred meters until they reached a large door, much like the ones in the Queen's chamber. The power outtake had unlocked the door and even if it hadn't opened fully, the cracks were large enough for several warriors to push through, into the fresh air._

_The scenery in front of them was almost beautiful, with its mountains, light blue rivers and odd looking trees, colored purple and brown. A blue sun was high on the sky, providing the planet with the extra warmth that explained why the compound remained warm, despite the power having been out for days._

_None of the aliens saw the beauty, certainly not D16. All they saw was a new hunting ground, filled with new prey. The Queen's shrill order sounded and the small army of warriors moved through the door and down the slopes, to continue feeding the Hive._

* * *

**Well, that was the end of this story. I might, in the far future make a follow up. Depends on if I can plan out another plot or not, which isn't happening right now.**

__**Thanks for reading!**_  
_


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